Title:
The culture of fear : why Americans are afraid of the wrong things / Barry Glassner.
Author:
Glassner, Barry.
Publication Information:
New York : Basic Books, 2009.
Call Number:
HN59.2 .G58 2009
Abstract:
In the age of 9/11, the War on Terror, financial collapse, and around-the-clock coverage of child abductions, our society is defined by fear. Glassner shows that it is our perception of danger that has increased, not the actual level of risk, and he exposes the price we pay for social panic.
Geographic Term:
Edition:
10th anniversary ed.
ISBN:
9780465003365
Physical Description:
xxxvi, 322 p. ; 21 cm.
General Note:
"Updated for our post 9/11 world"--Cover.
Contents:
Dubious dangers on roadways and campuses: how fears are sold -- Crime in the news: tall tales and overstated statistics -- Youth at risk: faulty diagnoses and callous cures -- Monster moms: on the art of misdirection -- Black men: how to perpetuate prejudice without really trying -- "Smack is back": when presidents and the press collude, the scares never stop -- Metaphoric illnesses: how not to criticize the establishment -- Plane wrecks: small danger, big scare -- Final thoughts: the martians aren't coming -- New fears for a new century: and some old ones updated.
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